Ultra-billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are spending their money on rocket shots to the moon and Mars. (Yeah, yeah guys, we get it: mine is bigger than yours). And the vastly wealthy Bill Gates and the equally wealthy Saudis are buying up farmland across the U.S., including in Arizona. Meanwhile, Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban has a much better idea of what to do with his fortune.
Cuban is using some of his wealth to take on Big Pharma and Big Pharma’s big prices to offer reduced price prescription drugs through his online pharmacy, Cost Plus Drugs.
How Mark Cuban is cutting prescription costs
As his website says he is cutting out the huge mark-ups by middle men and many of the health-giving drugs are generics with sensible prices. One example he gives on the front page of his site would mean a savings of $9618.30 on 30 pills of Imatinib! Sorry, I haven’t a clue what that drug is or does, but savings like that are impressive for anyone who has to take it. [Later: I have since learned that Imatinib is a treatment for leukemia and related cancers.]
Better yet, you don’t have to sign up for a card or pay a monthly fee. Just find your prescription medicine on his website and with 3 simple steps your prescription will arrive at your door while you’re saving a lot of money. A lot. Cost Plus Drugs does not accept insurance, but the price may be lower anyway.
So why am I writing about Mark Cuban’s online pharmacy on this site about Tucson. Well, Tucson is changing and costs for everything–housing, especially–are skyrocketing.
Rise in rents and drug costs
Recently, I’ve read that many retirees who are attempting to live only on Social Security and have chosen to live here in Tucson because of low housing costs are now being squeezed financially. Some are even being forced out of their rentals. Others, to cut costs, are deciding to stop taking full doses of their meds so they can pay their rent!
Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs won’t do anything to reduce housing costs in Tucson but it may help some people get the life-giving prescriptions they need affordably. Bravo, Mr. Cuban!
BTW, this post is a public service announcement. I don’t get even one penny if you go to Mark Cuban’s site and order your prescriptions. Cuban doesn’t have paid advertising anywhere — that’s part of the way he can reduce the costs. So I am giving him an “ad” for free. It’s my act of kindness for today.
